Improvement in children s folding cribs



H. w. R'dPE. CHILD'S FOLDING CRIBS.

Ila- 194 255. Patnted Aug. 14,1877

-' Inventor "5 fltfor ney.

NIPEI'ERS, FHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON, n c

U NITEDQSTATES PATENT Orrron.

HENRY W. ROPE, OF wAsHINoTom IsrRIcT or COLUMBIA, Assrelvon or QNETHALFOF'HISRIGHTTO HENRYO. TOWLES,

OF PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CHILDRENS FOLDING cafes.

Specification forming partof Letters Patent No. 194,266, dated August 14, 18%7 ap li ti fil d July 21,1877. I Y i v To all whom it may cont-era:

Be it known that I, HENRY W. RGPE, of

Washington city, in the county of Washington and District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cribs; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved crib Fig. 2, a bottom view; Fig. 3, a longitudinalvertical section, as indicated by the line .10 w of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4, a view of spring-catch detached.

Like letters in all the figures of the drawing indicate like parts.

The object of this invention is to provide a crib that can be readily adjusted and stowed away under the bed without removing the mattress and coverlets, as is usual with the folding cribs now in use; and it consists of a sliding guard-frame, arranged to slide over and inclose the body of the crib, having folding legs, and casters attached to the bottom of the body, as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

A is the sliding guard-frame; B, the body of the crib, having the legs a hinged to the ends of the body, and arranged to fold up under the same, and retained in position, when extended out, by means of hinges b, which are locked by springing them outwardly with the hand. Any suitably-constructed hinge will answer the purpose, so that the hinge can be readily secured to hold the legs in a fixed position. The upper arms of these hinges are pivoted to transverse plates 0 G, which are attached to the sides of the body, flush with the underedges thereof. The lower arms of the hinges are pivoted to transverse brace-bars c 0, attached near the bottom ends of the legs. The corner-posts d of the frame A have their corners on the inside of the frame rabbeted out from under the rails to the bottom ends of the posts, the rabbet or recess thus formed embracing the corners of the body snugly, and permitting the frame to slide freely on the same. The shoulders formed by the rabbets at the upper ends of the posts under the rails rest upon the top corner ends of the body when the frame is let down, which, in conjunction with the tongued plates D, attached to the end rails ofthe body, and grooved plates E, attached to the bottom end rails of the frame, in which the ton gued plates fit and work when the frame is raised up, the frame is prevented from coming off the body either way above or below, and is retained in position for use by means of the spring-catches F F, attached centrally, in a suitable manner, to the top edges of the endrails of the body, the catches springing into recesses in the bottom end rails of the frame the moment the frame is elevated into position, and while thus held by the catches is kept steady by the tongued plates D coming in contact with the bottoms of the grooves of plates E. These plates are let in flush with the surface of the wood-work. The frame is released and let down over the body by pressing the catches back simultaneously.

Spiral or other suitably-constructed springs e e are attached to the end rails of the body and legs to cause the legs to automatically fold themselves under the body when the hinges are unlocked. Four casters, G, are attached to the plates 0 0, one near the end of each plate, in a position not to interfere with the folding of the legs under the body, to permit the crib to be rolled under the bed. The head of the frame A is solid, and a supplemental head, H, of an ornamental nature, is affixed to the top by means of a beveled strip attached centrally to the back of the head H, and arranged to fit and slide in beveled cleats attached to the back of the head of the frame, and secured on each side ofthe strip byadowelpm.

The rabbets of the corner-posts of the frame may be provided with any suitable material to ntthe surface of the wood-work around the corners of the body of the crib from being scratched by the sliding movement of the frame.

The operation is as follows: hinges in the legs are folded and automatically held The head is then removed and laid in the crib, and the catches pressed back simultaneously, when the frame is let down over the body,

thus reducing the crib to a compact size, so that, by means of the casters, it can be easily rolled under the bed, the mattress and coverlets remaining in the crib, thus avoiding the inconvenience of removing these articles, as heretofore.

Having thus fully described my invention,

' what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A crib having the guard-frame arranged to slide over and inclose the body of the crib, substantially as and for the'purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the sliding guardframe A, body B, folding legs a, lock-hinges b,

and casters G, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The guard-frame A, provided with grooved plates E, in combination with the body B, having tongued plates D and spring-catches F F, substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing'as my own invention I affix my signature'in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY W. ROPE.

Witnesses:

H. A. DANIELS, W. BURRIS. 

